I'm honestly in a dilemma now. The breeders I like in a couple breeds don't register with the AKC but I need AKC registration to do agility around here. To ILP you need to neuter your dog. Blegh.

My preferred plan is if it's a girl let them go through a few heats then spay. Boy, keep intact unless there's a problem. Bernard is still intact and I don't think he'll ever be neutered.

I do really wish I'd let Mia go through a heat before spaying her. Her breeder wanted her done before 10 months and I held out to 11 months.

Are you talking BC's? ABCA reg will get you AKC reg, but many of the breeders make that in direct violation of their contract. Same goes for ASCA, I believe. Usually with the working Aussies/BC's it's a matter of breech of contract.

I don't know if it was just age or hormones but Bandit eats about a fourth of what he did before. His muscle tone used to be beautiful and now I have a hard time keeping him nice and trim. I swear Chihuahuas eat more than he does.

Are you talking BC's? ABCA reg will get you AKC reg, but many of the breeders make that in direct violation of their contract. Same goes for ASCA, I believe. Usually with the working Aussies/BC's it's a matter of breech of contract.

Yes with BCs it's often a breech of contract. Well with pretty much every BC breeder I've been interested in. It seems less common in the Aussie breeders I've looked at. A lot more dual ASCA and AKC regged dogs.

Ok so some junk bothers me... the other day I bathed an intact male Swissy and his. balls. were. SO. HUGE. IT WAS LIKE A SACK OF APPLES. I admit I was kind of traumatized, though personally I still find hanging empty scrotums far worse!

I admit, it skeeves me out when we have old intact dogs come in and their balls are bouncing off their knees. Get those boys some tighty whiteys or *something*.

I find Luce's boobies very distracting. They're not huge, but they're definitely *there*. Her mustn't touch it is, at least, relatively discreet. LOL

Balls really don't bother me. I mean, Traveler's are really not in your face unless he's putting them literally in your face. I get told what a pretty girl he is all the time. But overall I find nothing offensive or gross about them. Looks wrong to me when they aren't there.

And Paige, Kaylee is at least 85 lb and eats way less than Traveler at 39 and she's still overweight. I blame altering and unfortunate genetics but I feel so bad for her because she's always hungry but if given anymore than she gets she would be obese.

I don't know if it was just age or hormones but Bandit eats about a fourth of what he did before. His muscle tone used to be beautiful and now I have a hard time keeping him nice and trim. I swear Chihuahuas eat more than he does.

Macky has the same deal. She eats a minuscule amount of food, gets lot of exercise, and still isn't as lean as I'd like. It's really frustrating.

Keeva, OTO, eats a generous portion of raw food for her size plus marrow bones, chews, training treats, stuffed kongs, and is still sport lean with big muscles. It's a relief not to have to stress over how much eats, I have to say. Yes, Keeva is an adolescent still, but Macky was chubby 15 months (Keeva's age). We were SHOCKED to realize it, because she was eating a reasonable amount of food and getting lots of exercise.

I know that there's more at play than just hormones (although even her vet feels that's a large part of why Keeva is as lean as she is), but... if I needed another reason to think twice about altering, that's certainly a good one.

Laurelin, I remember looking at BC breeders before I got DemonSeed and wanting to SCREAM. "I JUST WANT TO DO SPORTS, I SWEAR!" lol